Liberal media? Maybe once upon a time, but not any more. These days the true media bias is conservative.
Let's start off with 'balance'. If one person tells the truth and one person lies, what should you do? You should fact-check. This is one of the purposes of the media. Supposedly. But in practice, the media strives for the illusion of balance, which means that the liar gets equal weight as the honest man. Given that a truly fair system would call out the lies rather than reprint them without pause, this 'balanced' approach gives a bias to the liar. In these times, by which I mean my entire lifetime (which admittedly is barely a quarter-century), that has been the Republican Party. Not that Democrats are paragons of honesty and virtue, but that lies have not been the primary driven of their support and agenda.
But there is a more fundemental source of the bias. It is in the companies. They are not there to bring truth and spread information, nor to enlighten, observe, or check the powers that be. Instead, they are there to pursue profit, with no regard for any of the previously-listed values. That is the essence of modern conservatism, pursuit of profit regardless of the social harm.
So the next time you think you're seeing spin and bias, remember that there is no agenda behind it beyond appealing to viewers in an attempt to attract advertisers and therefore profit. In fact, if you believe there is a liberal bias to the media, then it means that the media thinks that a liberal bias is what is most appealing to the widest base of viewers of advertisements. Of course there are always niche audiences, which is why there is FOX News and various other right-wing sources, because there are sufficient viewers to attract advertisers. Ultimately though, it is not ideology, but greed, which drives broadcasting. If you want an objective media, then you're going to have to work against that greed, but good luck with that, liberal.
Let's start off with 'balance'. If one person tells the truth and one person lies, what should you do? You should fact-check. This is one of the purposes of the media. Supposedly. But in practice, the media strives for the illusion of balance, which means that the liar gets equal weight as the honest man. Given that a truly fair system would call out the lies rather than reprint them without pause, this 'balanced' approach gives a bias to the liar. In these times, by which I mean my entire lifetime (which admittedly is barely a quarter-century), that has been the Republican Party. Not that Democrats are paragons of honesty and virtue, but that lies have not been the primary driven of their support and agenda.
But there is a more fundemental source of the bias. It is in the companies. They are not there to bring truth and spread information, nor to enlighten, observe, or check the powers that be. Instead, they are there to pursue profit, with no regard for any of the previously-listed values. That is the essence of modern conservatism, pursuit of profit regardless of the social harm.
So the next time you think you're seeing spin and bias, remember that there is no agenda behind it beyond appealing to viewers in an attempt to attract advertisers and therefore profit. In fact, if you believe there is a liberal bias to the media, then it means that the media thinks that a liberal bias is what is most appealing to the widest base of viewers of advertisements. Of course there are always niche audiences, which is why there is FOX News and various other right-wing sources, because there are sufficient viewers to attract advertisers. Ultimately though, it is not ideology, but greed, which drives broadcasting. If you want an objective media, then you're going to have to work against that greed, but good luck with that, liberal.
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